Network security is never something to be taken for granted. Web-connected, the threat level multiplies exponentially. Beware! The place is a war zone. Here are the kind of web worries we face and which, incidentally, we'll be addressing in wpCop's Web section.

Of all our local programs, it's the browser that most generally flies closest to the sun, the hackfest that is the web. Browsers that aren't religiously updated are likely to be prone to infection, some posing mild and others critical risks such as allowing the local installation of malicious code even though the user's merely browsing innocent-looking sites.

The browser isn't the only worry. Any application is a worry. Web-facing ones – anything that traffics data via a port as we'll detail later in Access and Authentication Server Issues – are a particular worry. These days, that's most of them as they send reports about who-knows-what back to their big brother marketers. Delete anything you don't need and set the rest to auto-update.

Unencrypted traffic

Any data you send over the web is fair game for interception and, among many other things, extortion. That could be your IM or VOIP chatter, it could be your e-mail or webmail, it is everything via FTP, it is everything over HTTP.

Oops, hidden content alert!

Infected public PCs

Hmmn, this'll be mainly about cybercafés then.

Well, infection per se, you may as well eat your dinner off the floor of a public convenience, let alone use a public PC. Just read that bit, above, about browser updates again, then look me in the eye and tell me you think that those machines are secure.

Sniffing out problems with wireless

The web: ground zero

In terms of the threats we face, the web is ground zero. It's fabulous, enriching, a hell of a surf. It's downright dangerous, getting red-line worse, and we've barely scratched the surface.

The security of your site, your network, your business, and your identity depend upon you understanding its danger and, as far as is feasible, muzzling the damn thing.

So there we have the mainstay of the local and web risks and, as you can surely work out, many of these lead inevitably to worries for your web server and network devices, your WordPress site, your content, your data, your hairline …

wpCop, vpsBible & Guvnr

wpCop is brought to you by Olly Connelly who also helps Linux noobs set up web servers at vpsBible.com. Olly’s blog, Guvnr.com, doubles as the news vehicle for wpCop & vpsBible. The forums offer friendly support.